Big Ten Championships Session I: Rivera, Poznanski Advance to Semifinals
Mar 06 | Wrestling
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – No. 3 seed Sebastian Rivera (141) and No. 5 seed John Poznanski (184) secured spots in tonight's semifinals after Session I of the 2021 Big Ten Wrestling Championships at Penn State. It marks the third time in four seasons multiple Scarlet Knights will wrestle for a spot in Sunday's finals at the conference tournament. Rivera faces No. 2 seed Nick Lee (Penn State) while Poznanski faces top seed Aaron Brooks (Penn State) tonight beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on BTN.
Rivera followed a first-round pin with a 6-1 decision over No. 11 seed Cayden Rooks (Indiana) to secure his third consecutive trip to the conference semifinals, as the Toms River, New Jersey, native attempts to become a three-time Big Ten champion. Poznanski used a reversal to pin No. 4 seed Owen Webster (Minnesota) in the quarterfinals, becoming the first true freshmen to reach the Big Ten semifinals for Rutgers wrestling since Anthony Ashnault did so in 2015.
With three sessions to go, Rutgers is tied with Purdue for ninth with 23.5 team points. No. 7 seed Jackson Turley (174) and No. 13 seed Dylan Shawver (125) also earned opening-round victories on Saturday, as Shawver worked an upset against a top-12 opponent in his postseason debut.
Session I Recap
133: (14) Shane Metzler (0-2)
141: (3) Sebastian Rivera (2-0)
149: (8) Michael VanBrill (0-1)
165: (13) Brett Donner (0-2)
174: (7) Jackson Turley (1-1)
184: (5) John Poznanski (2-0)
197: (11) Billy Janzer (0-1)
HWT: (10) Christian Colucci (1-1)
Rivera followed a first-round pin with a 6-1 decision over No. 11 seed Cayden Rooks (Indiana) to secure his third consecutive trip to the conference semifinals, as the Toms River, New Jersey, native attempts to become a three-time Big Ten champion. Poznanski used a reversal to pin No. 4 seed Owen Webster (Minnesota) in the quarterfinals, becoming the first true freshmen to reach the Big Ten semifinals for Rutgers wrestling since Anthony Ashnault did so in 2015.
With three sessions to go, Rutgers is tied with Purdue for ninth with 23.5 team points. No. 7 seed Jackson Turley (174) and No. 13 seed Dylan Shawver (125) also earned opening-round victories on Saturday, as Shawver worked an upset against a top-12 opponent in his postseason debut.
Session I Recap
- Rivera opened the championships with a first-period fall (0:39), as he locked up a cradle to pin No. 14 seed Dominic Dentino (Wisconsin) to advance. Rivera then followed with a 6-1 decision over No. 11 seed Cayden Rooks (Indiana), as he landed takedowns in the first and second periods and collected more than three minutes of riding time to lock up his spot in Saturday's semifinals and earn an automatic bid to nationals.
- After Poznanski recorded a 7-1 decision over No. 12 Jaden Bullock (Michigan) in the opening round, the Colonia, New Jersey, native faced Webster in a rematch from earlier this season in which Webster won, 6-4. Webster landed a takedown to go up 2-1 late in the second period, but Poznanski responded with a reversal and then caught Webster on his back for the fall.
- Turley wrestled hard in both of his matches during Session I, which included an 8-0 major decision over No. 10 seed Drew Hughes (Michigan State) in the first round. Trailing 6-2 to No. 2 seed Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) late in the second period, Turley swung five points, which included a two-point near fall to tie the score 8-8 after two. Turley then went up with an escape point to start the third, but Labriola landed a takedown with 1:13 remaining and added the riding time point for the win.
- Shawver earned the upset of the opening round over No. 4 seed Patrick McKee. The true freshman landed two takedowns in the first period to set the tone early. McKee fought back to tie the match at 5-5 after two periods, but Shawver's third-period escape locked up the match. Shawver lost is quarterfinal bout to No. 5 seed RayVon Foley (Michigan State) to fall to the consolation bracket.
| Round 1 | (4) Patrick McKee (Minnesota) | W-D, 6-5 |
| Quarters | (5) Rayvon Foley (Michigan State) | L-TF, 20-4 |
133: (14) Shane Metzler (0-2)
| Round 1 | (3) Lucas Byrd (Illinois) | L-Fall (6:06) |
| Conso Round 1 | (11) Jordan Hamden (Michigan State) | L-MD, 8-0 |
141: (3) Sebastian Rivera (2-0)
| Round 1 | (14) Dominic Dentino (Wisconsin) | W-Fall (0:39) |
| Quarters | (11) Cayden Rooks (Indiana) | W-D, 6-1 |
| Semis | (2) Nick Lee (Penn State) | 7:30 p.m. ET |
149: (8) Michael VanBrill (0-1)
| Round 1 | (9) Peyton Omania (Michigan State) | L-D, 9-6 |
| Conso Rd 1 | Bye | |
| Conso Rd 2 | (2) Max Murin (Iowa) | 7:30 p.m. ET |
165: (13) Brett Donner (0-2)
| Round 1 | (4) Camerone Amine (Michigan) | L-MD, 11-2 |
| Conso Rd 1 | David Ferrante (Northwestern) | L-D, 7-6 |
174: (7) Jackson Turley (1-1)
| Round 1 | (10) Drew Hughes (Michigan State) | W-MD, 8-0 |
| Quarters | (2) Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) | L-D, 11-9 |
| Conso Rd 2 | (9) Jake Allar (Minnesota) | 7:30 p.m. ET |
184: (5) John Poznanski (2-0)
| Round 1 | (12) Jaden Bullock (Michigan) | W-D, 7-1 |
| Quarters | (4) Owen Webster (Minnesota) | W-Fall (4:55) |
| Semis | (1) Aaron Brooks (Penn State) | 7:30 p.m. ET |
197: (11) Billy Janzer (0-1)
| Round 1 | (7) Michael Beard (Penn State) | L-D, 7-3 |
| Conso Rd 1 | Bye | |
| Conso Rd 2 | (9) Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State) | 7:30 p.m. ET |
HWT: (10) Christian Colucci (1-1)
| Round 1 | (6) Trent Hilger (Wisconsin) | L-D, 2-1 |
| Conso Rd 1 | (14) Garrett Kappes (Maryland) | W-D, 5-1 |
| Conso Rd 2 | (4) Luke Luffman (Illinois) | 7:30 p.m. ET |
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